A strong late season cold front brought high winds and blowing dust to parts of northern Arizona.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS FGZ wrote it up.
A strong late season cold front brought high winds and blowing dust to parts of northern Arizona.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 13, 9:00 AM MST, 4 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 900 AM MST SUN APR 13 2014 .SYNOPSIS...STRONG WEST NORTHWEST WINDS ARE FORECAST TODAY AS A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH NORTHERN ARIZONA. THERE IS A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHEAST ARIZONA. FAIR WEATHER RETURNS FROM MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THEN ANOTHER CHANCE OF SHOWERS ON FRIDAY. && .DISCUSSION...CURRENT FORECAST IN GOOD SHAPE. BE SURE TO VISIT OUR WEB PAGE AT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF FOR DETAILS CONCERNING VARIOUS ADVISORY AND WARMING PRODUCTS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY. EXPECT STRONG WEST THEN NORTHWEST WINDS TODAY...ESPECIALLY FOR AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM WHERE SUSTAINED WINDS IN THE 25-35 MPH RANGE WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE FORECAST. FOR TONIGHT...MOISTURE LINGERS ACROSS THE FOUR CORNERS THIS EVENING...WITH FAST NORTHWEST THEN NORTHERLY FLOW DEVELOPING OVERNIGHT. WHILE THE WIND AND BLOWING DUST ADVISORY ENDS AT 8 PM MST...GUSTY SFC WINDS SHOULD CONTINUE FOR MUCH OF THE NIGHT ACROSS THE NORTHLAND. ON MONDAY MORNING...SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE COLORADO PLATEAU AND STRENGTHENING PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL BRING GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHEAST SURFACE WINDS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM. WINDS LOOK TO DECREASE MONDAY AFTERNOON AS THE SURFACE HIGH WEAKENS. TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...FAIR AND DRY WEATHER THESE DAYS. PROGS ARE NOT AS STRONG WITH THE WEDNESDAY SYSTEM VS YESTERDAY AND ONLY EXPECT A BREEZY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. LIGHT WINDS ARE FORECAST FOR TUESDAY AND THURSDAY. OPERATIONAL ECMWF AND GFS BRING ANOTHER WEAK CLOSED LOW FROM OFF THE PACIFIC INTO THE DESERT SW ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AND WE HAVE ADDED A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR NOW. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 18Z PACKAGE...MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. A COLD FRONT MOVING SOUTH ACROSS THE UTAH ARIZONA BORDER THIS MORNING WILL BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS TO NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA AND ISOLATED SHOWERS ALONG THE MOGOLLON RIM. A FEW ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP IN THE AFTERNOON HOURS. WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL BE WESTERLY 20-30KTS GUSTING 35-45 KTS...BEHIND THE FRONT WINDS WILL BE NORTHWEST 15-20KTS GUSTING 30-35KTS. BLOWING DUST IN PORTIONS OF NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA MAY LIMIT VISIBILITIES BELOW VFR CONDITIONS. THESE STRONG WIND SPEEDS WILL DIMINISH THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF NORTHERN ARIZONA TODAY. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND INTO ARIZONA TODAY. AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WINDS WILL BECOME WESTERLY AND INCREASE IN STRENGTH. AS THE FRONT PUSHES SOUTHWARD ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA...WINDS WILL BECOME NORTHWESTERLY AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY WILL DECREASE RAPIDLY WITH MINIMUM VALUES OF 8 TO 15 PERCENT. WINDS WILL DECREASE BY MID EVENING. FOR MONDAY...WINDS BECOMING NORTH TO NORTHEAST AND GUSTY EARLY...THEN GRADUALLY DECREASING IN THE AFTERNOON. COOLER TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED. TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED. WINDS BECOMING BREEZY ON WEDNESDAY AS A WEAK COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE AREA. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR AZZ104>107-109>115-139-140. WIND ADVISORY TODAY FROM 11 AM UNTIL 8 PM MST AZ ZONES 004>007-009>014>016-039-040. BLOWING DUST ADVISORY TODAY 11 AM UNTIL 8 PM MST AZ ZONES 004>007-009>014>016-039-040. && PUBLIC.........MCCOLLUM/DL AVIATION.......BOHLIN/DB FIRE WEATHER...DB FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 250 AM MST SUN APR 13 2014 AZZ004>007-009>016-039-040-140715- KAIBAB PLATEAU-MARBLE AND GLEN CANYONS-GRAND CANYON COUNTRY- COCONINO PLATEAU-NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS HWY 264 NORTHWARD- CHINLE VALLEY-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN COCONINO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY- WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM-EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-BLACK MESA AREA- NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264- 250 AM MST SUN APR 13 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE TODAY WILL BRING STRONG WEST THEN NORTHWEST WINDS TO AREAS IN NORTHERN ARIZONA ALONG AND NORTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM. WIND SPEEDS SHOULD RANGE FROM 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FIRE WEATHER WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT. SEE PHXRFWFGZ FOR DETAILS. A WIND ADVISORY AND BLOWING DUST ADVISORY ARE IN EFFECT. SEE PHXNPWFGZ FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. 41
The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 149 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:38 UTC.
3 high wind, 1 dust storm, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Blowing dust reduced the visibility down to 1/4 miles at times in Chinle.
The Petrified Forest National Park reported a wind gust of 58 MPH.
The ASOS in Winslow reported a peak wind gust of 58 MPH.
The ASOS in Winslow reported a peak wind gust of 58 MPH.
Very strong winds from a thunderstorm hit the St Johns Airport. The ASOS measured a peak wind gust of 79 MPH. Tree limbs were damaged.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, April 2014
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 515442, 515445, 515443, 515444, 515446.